Prime Minister Tony Abbott has urged voters not to "stereotype" him, dismissed "shouting from the sidelines" in the new Senate and promised to keep his government's explicit election promises - including the repeal of the carbon tax - as a day of political chaos unfolded in Canberra.

In an exclusive interview with Fairfax Media, Mr Abbott said voters should not pigeonhole him as a defender of the status quo as he invoked the reformist credentials of conservative prime ministers John Howard and Margaret Thatcher.

Seen his personal standing plummet and Coalition's rating plunge to its lowest level in five years: Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Photo: Bloomberg

Mr Abbott's first in-depth interview since the new crossbench took their seats in the Senate came as the government suffered a big setback when the Senate rejected its carbon tax repeal bills.

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In Parliament, Clive Palmer insisted on harsh penalties for companies caught withholding price cuts after the abolition of the carbon tax in a move that delayed repeal of the tax and fuelled impressions the government was being dictated to by the crossbenches.

Legislation to repeal the tax was defeated in the Senate on Thursday after the Palmer United Party abandoned the government at the last minute and after the package of bills had been ''guillotined'', meaning they proceeded to a vote even though the majority needed to pass them had evaporated.

The bills, and the Palmer amendment, will return to the Parliament via the House of Representatives on Monday, with the government confident the tax will be repealed at the fourth attempt.

The delay in repealing the tax came as the upper house punched a further $10 billion hole in the government's budget this week.

But a defiant Mr Abbott, fresh from hosting the successful visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, told Fairfax Media his government could still recover some of the billions in budget savings measures blocked by the Senate.

Mr Abbott, who has been under fire for breaking a slew of election promises in his first budget, has seen his personal standing plummet and the Coalition's rating plunge to its lowest level in five years - it trails Labor 47 to 53 per cent.

But the Prime Minister confidently predicted his government would keep its four central commitments - "to scrap the carbon tax, to stop the boats, to build the roads and get the budget back under control".

"There will be a lot of shouting from the sidelines, there will be a lot of colour and movement, there will be a lot of days when learned commentators would like to focus on the circus rather than the substance, but nevertheless I am very confident that all these things will be done,'' he said.

He predicted that, despite another delay in the Senate, the carbon tax would be "buried once and for all''.

He pledged to work as constructively as possible with all members of the crossbench, predicting "continuous conversation" with the crossbench and declining to criticise Mr Palmer, and predicted at least some of his budget could be salvaged.

"The Senate hasn't even begun to consider much of the budget legislation, and I think it would be a big mistake to assume that people's first word is necessarily their last word." Mr Abbott said his government's post-carbon tax political and economic agenda - which includes white papers on tax and the federation, a Productivity Commission review of the Fair Work Act, likely changes to the welfare system and new national security legislation - added up to an ambitious political agenda before the 2016 election.

He said he should not be seen as a preserver of the status quo and promised "a range of additional policy commitments" before the next election.

"I'm not going to feed the pigeonholing process, which is all too common in our public debate and which I think is much more frequently used to promote heat rather than light," he said.

''I don't think I should be stereotyped . . . Margaret Thatcher was a conservative but she was a reforming conservative. John Howard was a Conservative but he was a reforming conservative.

''I'm all in favour of change provided change means that our better values are advanced and our country prospers.''

Asked if that meant he was prepared to endure continued electoral unpopularity in the opinion polls, Mr Abbott said he was confident good policy would ultimately amount to good politics for his flagging government.

''You'd always prefer to be doing better rather than worse in the polls, but in the end you are elected to govern the country, you are not elected to worry about the polls,'' he said.

In keeping with his focus on the medium term, Mr Abbott urged the ambitious junior ministers and back bench MPs to be patient about the prospect of future promotion.

''Ambition is a good thing in politics, but the best way to secure a better job is to do your current job as well as you humanly can and fretting about the next job is not the best way to get it,'' he said.

545 comments

Looks like those multi million dollar spin doctors are starting to earn their keep ...

Commenter

Mrs Mulligan Tinkerbottoms

Date and time

July 11, 2014, 5:28AM

This is going to be worth watching - it is history in the making. Watch and learn.

Commenter

adam

Location

yarrawonga

Date and time

July 11, 2014, 6:25AM

Dont you think its great that in the middle of a "budget emergency" abbott the great was able to find $4mill to protect his "policies" from the evils of social media and free thinking civilians? I mean they have to cut $50b from health but he can still find the money for what counts, paying people to troll the interweb to pick on people that disagree with this rubbish "government". So happy the adults are in charge...

Commenter

Akward

Date and time

July 11, 2014, 6:26AM

Stereotyped and pigeon holed as the worst government in Australia's history. Election please, before we're morally, ecologically and finanancially bankrupt.

Commenter

FrankM

Date and time

July 11, 2014, 6:29AM

Tony is not a reforming conservative. He's a deforming radical who would like to wind back our policy settings to the halcyon days of 1902. Coal? It's a gift of the gods. Laissez faire economics? You don't need much money to live in poverty, do you? The rich need it more, you know. Small government? Yes. So long as it includes Tony and a very large group of media 'advisors' to ensure everyone continues to admire him and not 'stereotype' him as something he'd rather not be perceived as. Surf lifesaver and firefighter? Tick! Lying, manipulative narcissist who will say or trash anything to stay in power? Bupbaa....

Commenter

Mrs Kensington

Date and time

July 11, 2014, 6:31AM

The Minister for “Enforced Disappearance” Scott Morrison has received his orders from the Prime Minister’s “Strategic Communications Branch" as reported by the Sunday AGE. 6/7

Hacka is part of this 4.3 million dollar tax payer funded scam which trawls through the electronic and print media as well as social websites to ensure Abbotts indoctrinating spin is filtered out to the masses with the new mantra being "We have stopped the boats and we will stop the jihadists ".

Shock jocks Alan Jones and Australia's most biased commentator Andrew Bolt are given the script on a daily basis along with other journalists at Murdoch’s Herald Sun and The Australian.

The ABC & SBS have come under attack via the appointment of conservative members of the board such as Janet Albrechtsen a loyal Murdoch employee.

The ABC and SBS along with the AGE remain the only source of inconvenient truths for Abbott who prefers the cosy biased reporting of the Murdoch press.

“Enforced Disappearance” from our “unsettled land”

Howard, Peter Reith and Abbott found there is something about the boat people that has provided politicians with an exploitable issue that does Australia's otherwise commendable record on refugees no good."

Commenter

George

Location

East Melbourne

Date and time

July 11, 2014, 6:35AM

Awkward they haven't cut $50b from health at all. That is just a blatant lie. The left couldn't tell the truth in power and now cannot tell the truth in opposition. The one constant is Fairfax and the ABC supporting them in their deceit.

Commenter

Pragmatic prince

Date and time

July 11, 2014, 6:39AM

From Mark Kenny's article...There was no mention of increased university fees, a fuel tax rise, a GP co-payment, an extended retirement age, a temporary income tax rise, lower indexation for pensions, an $80 billion haircut in future Commonwealth outlays in health and education, cuts to family tax benefits, cuts to a range of payments and supplements, and so on.

We've pigeonholed you Tony. You're not to be trusted.

Commenter

mattoxic

Location

Mont Albert

Date and time

July 11, 2014, 6:43AM

Abbott said "it would be a big mistake to assume that people's first word is necessarily their last word." Ironic isn't it? You can guarantee his word means nothing.

Commenter

Tony Toast

Location

Neocon La La Land

Date and time

July 11, 2014, 6:45AM

"Stereotyped" seriously!This is precisely what he and his sidekicks did to multiple individuals in last government and cross benches in the crudest most disrespectful antagonistic immature way possible.

10 Jul
Protection for business and a last minute push to toughen penalties for companies who do not pass on savings from axing the carbon tax were central to an extraordinarily day in Canberra that saw the Abbott government’s repeal plans once again frustrated.

10 Jul
Buoyed by the successful visit of Japan’s Shinzo Abe and the expectation of finally expunging the carbon tax, Tony Abbott was in a positive mood on Thursday morning, describing the tax’s expected demise as ‘‘good news’’ for the country. Wisely, he stopped short of counting his chickens.

10 Jul
Clive Palmer could not have appeared more content if a dozen hand-maidens had appeared bearing racks of pork chops, a gallon or so of caramelised banana and coconut ice-cream, the keys to a 1939 Maybach limousine and Tony Abbott's head on a plate.

11 Jul
Prime Minister Tony Abbott says Indonesia will play an increasingly important role in global affairs and predicts his government will be able to work with whoever is elected the new president of the vast archipelago.

11 Jul
The federal government will be forced to face a crucial vote on its watering down of Labor's financial advice reforms next week after Labor succeeded - via a ruse - in tabling them in the Senate.

10 Jul
China's President Xi Jinping has met with former prime minister John Howard in Beijing as Chinese state media continued its outcry over Tony Abbott's praise for the patriotism of Japanese soldiers during World War II.

11 Jul
Ben Oquist was long the Australian Greens' most astute political strategist, respected across political divides, who helped engineer the party's significant influence within the minority government of Julia Gillard.

12 Jul
The federal government has moved to put a week of political chaos behind it, Environment Minister Greg Hunt directly negotiating with Clive Palmer over amendments to repeal the carbon tax and give business certainty.